his party go out."-Lytton, England and the English,' 'Illustrations of Character,' "Tom Whitehead" (the Preface is dated July, 1833). On this election being declared void. 1713 Two causes militate against the compact solidity of this democratic body; corruption is the first. A second cause is to be found in the establishment of Political Unions, or combinations under whatever name-Chartist, 1729 Radical, or Conservative."-Ibid., p. 274. Hookham Frere uses the term, as that of his own party, at about the same date as my last quotation. He subsequently said, however, that a Conservative was a Tory who was ashamed of his name (I am relying on memory). J. P. OWEN. 48, Comeragh Road, West Kensington. Polls in Smith, 1719, 1722, 1747, 1780, 1784, 1790, 1796, 1802, 1803, 1806, 1807, 1812 (two), 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830, 1831. Grantham. 1710 Sir William Ellis, Bart. ... ... On petition Thorold vice Granby. ... 2475 1722 Francis Fisher ... ... 2457 Lord Roos ... 2020 41 Polls in Smith, 1796, 1802, 1807, 1818, 1820 (two), 1826, 1830, 1831. Grimsby. Polls in Smith, 1700, 1701, 1702, 1705, 1710, 1713, 1741, 35 1784, 1790, 1796, 1802, 1807, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830, 1831 (two). 11 2 53 Lincoln. James Winstanley 1658 William Stanley Sir Arthur Hazlerigg, Bart. Thomas Pochin Richard Ludlam 1713 ... 55 51 21 2 Richard Grantham 1727 Sir John Monson, Bart. Sir John Tyrwhitt, Bart. 232 ... Thomas Armstrong Sir Arthur Hazlerigg, Bart. 1722 Lawrence Carter Sir George Beaumont, Bart. 1734 Sir George Beaumont, Bart. George Wright Walter Ruding William Hewitt 1737 Vice Beaumont, dead. ... ... ::: 47 1728 20 766 1734 660 704 John Chaplin ... Coningsby Sibthorpe Hon. George Monson Robert Cracroft 1761 Hon. George Monson Polls in Smith, 1741, 1747, 1768, 1774, 1780, 1790, 1806, 1808, 1818, 1820, 1826. Polls in Smith, 1734, 1809, 1812, 1818, 1830, 1831. 2492 Middlesex. 2373 1990 1679 Sir William Roberts, Bart. 509 461 216 635 617 ... Stamford. Sir John Thorold, Bart. ... 720 1742 Sir Robert Peyton, Knt. 670 100 ... 125 60 Sir Charles Gerard, Bart.... 607 41 658 612 902 869 1159 1127 974 belief that cokinus or cockney could be derived 964 from any other word than the Latin coquinus. The wardrobe accounts called the officer in question a coquinus, or cockney, because he had something to do with the king's kitchen, that is, the king's 862 kitchen supplied the man's dinners. Possibly the 848 cockney helped occasionally in the kitchen or at 214 meals; in any event, his name had something to 212 do with the royal kitchen. He was a part 1175 of the king's household, but held a subordinate position that made letter carrying a proper em1114 ployment. Being employed at court, the cockney would be well dressed, perhaps a little affected in 1630 his speech, and not always a sturdy Englishman. 1349 The wardrobe accounts call him cockney in good 1336 faith; the men of London would call him cockney 1604 in derision; English speech followed suit. Cockney 1553 originally meant a courtier who had his meals from the king's kitchen, and tried to be a swell on that account. In French he became a mere scamp; in English he remained an effeminate person that 908 loves to bask in the sunshine of real or pretended 662 noblemen. C. W. ERNST. 1657 1330 1325 967 228 1410 1305 1039 1074 Polls in Smith, 1740, 1747, 1749, 1768 (two), 1769, 1784, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1807, 1820. W. W. BEAN. 4, Montague Place, Bedford Square. (To be continued.) "COCKNEY."-Better men than I have looked into the origin of the esteemed cockney, but with indifferent success. If the New English Dictionary' and Prof. Skeat will forgive me, I shall think that the cockney is named after something nearer London than the Welsh language and the lord of hens. Here is my reason. In that book dear to those engaged in postal studies, the 'Report from the Secret Committee on the Post-Office,' printed in the Parliament Papers of 1844, Sir Francis Palgrave, ever happy in such things, printed a series of wardrobe accounts from the thirteenth century. These accounts, written in Latin, called the persons who carried the court letters by a series of graded names. The chief letter carriers were called nuncius. The men next in order were the cokinus, the garcio, the valetus, and others. The cokinus disappeared with the thirteenth century. But in that century he is frequently mentioned by the wardrobe accounts; and generally as a letter carrier. In other words, the court officer who carried the king's letters to the king's friends and the members of the royal family was called cockney. It is not reasonable to think that in the thirteenth century the word cockney can have been a term of reproach. It denoted a trusty officer at the king's court; and very cogent reasons must be alleged to support the "Omnia mea mecum portans I take water, and com on board the ship Assistance (then still in the Longe Reach); drank part of three boules of punch (a liquor very strange to me), and so to bed in a cabin so much out of order that when I thought to find my pillow on the topp I found it elipt between the coards and under the bed." In a note on this entry the editor observes : "In Fryer's Travels to the East Indies' (1672), we have the following account of our mixture called punch: At Nerule (near Goa) is made the best arach or nepa die Goa, with which the English on this coast make that enervating liquor called paunch (which is Indostan for five) from five ingredients, as the physicians name this composition Diapente or from four things Diatessaron.' JNO. H. Willesden Green, N.W. 339 THE SKULL OF SIR THOMAS BROWNE.-The following statement appeared in the Yarmouth Mercury of Dec. 23, 1893, and I have been waiting to hear some further account of it; but as the matter seems to be at rest, I venture to send it to 'N. & Q.': "The Skull of Sir Thomas Browne. - Considerable interest has been excited in Norwich by a dispute concerning the skull of Sir Thomas Browne, the writer of 'Religio Medici.' His body was interred in the chancel of St. Peter Mancroft Church, about a couple of centuries ago; and in 1840 some workmen, in digging a vault, broke the lid of the coffin. The remains were examined by a local antiquary, who ordered the coffin and its contents to be re-interred. It appears, however, that the sexton took possession of the skull, which was purchased by a celebrated Norwich surgeon, and on his death was handed over to the Norfolk and Norwich Great Yarmouth. THE TEMPERATURE OF A PLACE WHEREIN ONE LIES DEAD. In a nurse's story given in J. K. Jerome's Novel Notes' (p. 199), occurs the following remark :— "In that part of the country where I was born and grew up, the folk say that wherever the dead lie, there round them, whether the time be summer or winter, the air grows colder and colder, and that no fire, though you pile the logs half-way up the chimney, will ever make it warm." ST. SWITHIN. rendered him incapable of doing his duty. The officers and sailors were unable to manage the ship, so the captain placed the command of the vessel in the hands of the count. Two days later they saw land, which the sailors said was Sachalin. Here he wished to stay, ostensibly to repair the damage done to the ship, really to endeavour to escape from slavery. "All the rhetoric I could use was incapable of prevailing over the crew, who...... obliged me to bear away from the coast of Korea" (he means Sachalin). He continues "It was in vain that I made use of iron and garlic to falsify the compass.' In a note (p. 114) the editor remarks :— "BONESHAW. PAUL BIERLEY. 7."-For_this_word, see the 'New English Dictionary.' Dr. Murray does not give the etymology of the latter syllable. (Swedish Dialect Dictionary'). Hence boneshaw, or sciatica, was supposed, originally, to be caused by some sort of lump on the bone. This is not true, so far I know, but was a natural idea. In modern times, the sense of shaw being lost, it has been altered to shave; as if the disease were due to a scraping of the bone. But in Somersetshire the word still means "an horny excrescence on the heel of a horse." Precisely so. THE QUEEN'S GREAT-GRANDSON. It seems worth noting that this is, as I believe, the only time in British history that four generations, three direct heirs in succession to the throne of England Shaw corresponds to a Norse skag-. The Icel. have been alive at the same time. Even had the skaga is to project, stick out, and skagi is a proPrincess Charlotte and her babe lived, there was, of jection of almost any kind; see Norweg. skage, course, the possibility that in case of Queensb., anything that sticks out; and see Rietz Caroline's death George IV. might have married again and a prince might have been born who would have superseded the princess; but here we have, as I believe, a perfectly unique event in English history. The only corresponding circumstances, so far as I know, are that of (in France) Louis XIV., who died in 1715; his son, Louis le Dauphin, died 1711; his grandson, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, died 1712; his great-grandson, Louis, Duke of Anjou, born 1710, succeeded to the throne on his great-grandfather's death as Louis XV.; and in our own time, in Germany, that of the Emperor William, who died 1888; his son, afterwards the Emperor Frederick; his grandson, the present Emperor, whose son, the present Crown Prince, was born in 1882. In each case the four generations were soon broken. Absit omen. CHARLOTTE G. BOGER. St. Saviour's. IRON AND GARLIC TO FALSIFY THE COMPASS. -Count Benyowsky ('The Memoirs and Travels of Mauritius Augustus, Count de Benyowsky,' edited by Capt. S. P. Oliver) states in chap. iii. that he and other exiles embarked at Ochoczk in the St. Peter and St. Paul for Kamchatka, and that during the voyage they encountered a most violent storm, during which the captain and his men got drunk. At three in the morning the mainmast sprang, and as the captain came on deck part of the wreck fell on him, broke his arm, and WALTER W. SKEAT. ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF. - In_going through the original allegation books of the Bishop of London, I am struck by the number of marriages to be solemnized at this church. The reason, I suppose, was its then proximity; the parties were either in a desperate hurry or unable to select a hymeneal altar, and the officials would naturally choose the nearest. Any way, St. Bennet's register should be interesting, for the couples came from all C. E. GILDERSOME-DICKINSON. parts. Eden Bridge. 'Langdale, 1825. [Date given from Thompson Cooper, Parliamentary History of Shorthand.' We do not know the name of his work.]" After a good deal of trouble I have succeeded in ascertaining that Langdale was not the author, but merely the publisher of the system explained in the following anonymous work : : beyond. It is said to have been introduced by the landscape-gardener Bridgman. Horace Walpole attributed the name ha-ha to the supposed exclamation of surprise which such an unexpected obstacle would elicit from a stranger. A correspondent in N. & Q.' (6th S. vii. 206) calls this " "a mistaken derivation," and says the Rev. W. D. Macray discovered in a document of the year 1194 the haha meaning a hedge. Now this is exactly what a ha-ha is not. A hedge and a ha-ha are just the opposites of each other; one is an elevation, the other a depression. Chaucer uses "Short Hand Simplified. Quid_nimis? Ripon printed and sold by T. Langdale: sold also by Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, Paternoster Row; Oliver & Boyd, Edin-haw to mean a hedge :burgh; and H. Mozley, Derby, 1824. Price four shillings [8vo., 17 pp., and 4 plates]." Dr. Westby-Gibson (p. 205) gives the title-page correctly, except that the publisher is wrongly described as D. Langdale. The system is a modification, though in my judgment by no means an improvement, of the well-known Mason-Gurney system. The signs for the initial vowels are discarded, and the device of indicating medial vowels by position or "mode" is seldom resorted to; the general result being that a slight increase of speed is obtained, while the legibility of the writing is sacrificed. In brief, the distinctive principles of the Gurney system have been abandoned by the anonymous author. THOMPSON COOPER, F.S.A. "ALSIKE."-This word in the 'N. E. D.' only stands for a species of clover, named from Alsike, near Upsala, and the first quotation is dated 1852; but I recently found the following stanza devoted to another alsike in the translation of' Palladius on Husbondrie,' published by the Early English Text Society, from a MS. of about 1420: Alsike is made with barly, half mature As it is grounde, and kepe it therin boote is. Like thee to scorn Dame Nature's single fence, Mason's Heroic Epistle to Sir William If the ha-ha originated with Bridgman, the name Drink deep, or taste not of the Anglian spring. "The annual custom of raffling for Bibles at the parish of St. Ives, Hunts, took place on Tuesday. The money for the Bibles is obtained under an old charity known as Wylde's Charity, which provides six Bibles, to be won by three boys and three girls who shall score The successful candidates this year were Sydney Stevens, the highest points whilst raffling on the altar table. Frederick Ibbott, Henry Watson, Mary Golding, Elizabeth Brairs, and Hilda Skeeles." CELER ET AUDAX. WILLIAM TAYLOR, OF NORWICH.-I am preparing a monograph on William Taylor, of Norwich, with special reference to his influence in introducing German literature into England. I should feel greatly obliged if any one possessing letters written by, or addressed to, Taylor would kindly place copies of them at my disposal. Of course, I would This is stanza 20 of book vii. of the poem, and has undertake not to print them without the consent this marginal note : "Alica [sic] is made of unripe barley, bound in sheaves and roasted in an oven until hard enough to grind in a mill.” It is hardly likely that this is the only example of the word in early English, nor is it likely that any word in the publications of the E.E. T.Š. has escaped Dr. Murray and his coadjutors. I therefore conclude that there was some good reason for its exclusion (with the meaning given above) from the N. E. D.' In any case the word deserves a corner in N. & Q.' JAMES HOOPER. Norwich. "HA-HA."-This name is given to a deep dry ditch, bounding a lawn, and giving it the appearance of being continuous with grass or garden of the owners. 68, Loudoun Road, N.W. GEORGE HErzfeld. Reader's Faith and Judgment and not to any Determination of our own ") that Cromwell had an interview with the Devil in a wood on the morning of the battle, in which he signed a contract that, on condition of having everything his own way for seven years, he was to be at the command of the evil spirit afterwards. Probably his death, exactly seven years after the battle (his crowning mercy," as he called it), on September 3, 1658, gave occasion to the invention, on the part of his enemies, of an absurdity which Echard might well have omitted, though the author of his life in the 'Dictionary of National Biography' thinks his history is "chiefly remarkable for its insertion. It will do, however, for a mnemonic of the date of the battle. Blackheath. Queries. W. T. LYNN. We must request correspondents desiring information on family matters of only privato interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers may be addressed to them direct. VISITING CARDS.-When did they come into use? By whom were they introduced? Are there any allusions to them in the works of authors who wrote more than a hundred years ago? Are they English in origin, or introduced from abroad? MARCUS BRand. in the midst of King Arthur's country and of James Johnstone of Westerhall, married Elizabeth Alloa, N.B. OLD RHYME WANTED.-Can any one let me There was a little man, and he had a little horse, across; With a high diddle, diddle, &c.? C. H. SP. P. Crandeen Gate, Henley-on-Thames. of the German Church historian Gams, the E. C. CELLIWIG.-I should be glad if any of your readers could identify the town of Celliwig. This place is described in the Historical Triads of the Island of Britain' as being one of the three chief Courts of King Arthur in Britain, the other two being Caerlleon upon Usk, in Wales, and Edinburgh, in North Britain. At these chief courts the Triads say King Arthur kept the three chief festivals-Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. Another of the Triads describes Celliwig as being one of the three archbishoprics of the Island of Britain, the other two being (temp. Arthur) Caerlleon upon Usk and Edinburgh. Bedwin is described as Archbishop of Celliwig (temp. Arthur). The difficulty in fixing the locality of Celliwig THE SCRATCH-BACK.-In Chambers's 'Book of arises from the Triad stating that Celliwig is in Days,' vol. ii. p. 237, there are some particulars Cornwall. I have searched the county histories concerning a curious little instrument called the and works on topography in vain, and can find no scratch-back. It is stated to be rare, and that few trace of any such place. I find, however, one palp-readers have heard of it and fewer have seen it in able copyist's error in these Triads. "Boadicea" the present day, although it was in general use in the is written, by an evident blunder, for "Cartis- past century. I think it is not quite so rare as the mandua" or "Cartismunda" as the betrayer of writer supposes, for several examples have come Caractacus. It seems to me not improbable that under my notice. A collector in Hull has three the word translated as Cornwall must originally specimens, another has one, and I have two. A have been Lloegyr or Lloegria, which includes all friend bought me one in London the other day the country south of the Thames and south of that for a few shillings from a dealer in curiosities. It portion of Wansdyke connecting the Severn and has a beautifully carved white bone handle, about the Thames, and in this case two likely places sug-nine inches in length, in which is fastened an gest themselves as the site of King Arthur's Celli- elegantly carved slender shaft of ivory, five inches wig. The first is Ilchester (Somersetshire), situated in length, and at the end is a beautifully carved ין 1 |